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PNS Daily Newscast - May 24, 2018

Jared Kushner is finally granted his security clearance. Also on our nationwide rundown: A new lawsuit seeks the release of a gay man from ICE detention in Pennsylvania; and protecting an Arizona water source for millions near Phoenix.

Daily Newscasts

Keystone Pipeline Protest Today in Great Falls

In the Market for an Electric Car? Time Running Out on Wash. Tax Break

Demand Grows For National Energy Grid

Planned transmission expansion and upgrades may not meet the near-term public goals for corporate renewable energy procurement, accordion to the Wind Energy Foundation. (Pixabay)

January 29, 2018

RICHMOND, Va. — A number of Fortune 500 companies are driving the demand for renewable energy, and those same companies are calling for a major upgrade to the country's energy transmission lines.

A report by the Wind Energy Foundation detailed renewable-energy commitments by large corporations willing to purchase 60 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2025. That's about 110 conventional power plants.

John Kostyack, executive director at the Wind Energy Foundation, said at the current speed at which corporations are pursuing renewable energy, the demand outpaces what the country's current transmission lines can offer.

"We have the ability with today's technology to build a truly national grid, where we can reach wind and solar resources wherever they are in the country and deliver them anywhere else in the country,” Kostyack said. “But it does require updating and modernizing our infrastructure. "

The demand for wind and solar energy is increasing because consumers want cleaner energy and because prices are falling.

But transmission developers say upgrading the infrastructure is not an easy task. They see reliability as a challenge when it comes to assessing and delivering renewables to the market.

Rob Threlkeld, the global manager of renewable energy at General Motors, said they've recently announced their Texas, Ohio and Indiana facilities will be powered by 100 percent renewables coming from offsite wind farms.

"We really are looking at price stability as we look at our long-term planning for our manufacturing footprint,” Threlkeld said. “And doing so, there is going to be a point where we need additional transmission to really drive the efficiencies that bringing additional renewables to the grid allow when you look at cost and price stability."

The Wind Energy Foundation report published this month found that under the 20th century model for transmission planning, experts focus on electric reliability, not the need to transmit renewable power. According to Kostyack, there are only a few major transmission lines that are moving in the right direction by adjusting for demand from renewable energy.